Alumni looks back: Dennis Treacy - Class of ’78

Since I graduated from Virginia Tech...

Since I graduated from Virginia Tech, I have had a long career in environmental management. I attended law school at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, a school that specializes and is highly ranked in environmental law. I have worked in the public, private and non- profit sectors including the environmental sections in the offices of two attorneys general, director of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer of Smithfield Foods. Since I retired from Smithfield in 2018 I have worked part time in two law firms.

My fondest memory from my college days was…

My fondest memory from my days in the college was the work experience I gained as a cooperative education student. I was a co-op student with the Virginia State Water Control Board (the predecessor agency to Virginia Department of Environmental Quality). When I was on campus I was able to take classes that were relevant to my work experience. That caused me to become very focused on my career opportunities. When I graduated from Virginia Tech I was immediately hired as a professional biologist by my co-op employer.

The most amazing thing I learned was…

The most amazing thing that I learned as a forestry and wildlife student (concentrating in fisheries science) was that courses teaching management of natural resources were actually more valuable to my career than courses in pure science and math. The management principles mindset I acquired at Virginia Tech and later applied during my career allowed me to view environmental and natural resources issues in a much broader way. There are many things that affect natural resource decision making, many of them intangible. My college education allowed me later to manage people, things, and resources from a goal oriented but wide lens.

The professor who inspired me the most was…

The person who inspired me the most was not a professor but a gentleman named Tommy Tate who was a top official in the cooperative education office. He became a mentor during college who helped me focus on a career plan in my field of study. He taught me to be flexible and the value of working hard. I now chair the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, a statewide group that is currently focused on encouraging every college student in Virginia to have a paid internship in their field of study. Virginia employers need qualified and experienced employees. Paid co-ops and interns are much more likely to fill positions in Virginia and stay in the state for years to come. Tommy Tate taught me that years ago.

If I could go back in time, the one thing I’d tell my undergraduate self is…

I would tell my undergraduate self to take more liberal arts courses. I remember thinking to myself that I was about to graduate from college knowing primarily science and math. I was on my fourth or fifth statistics course, non-parametric statistics, when it hit me that I needed something more before I left Blacksburg. In my senior year I took as many liberal arts courses as I could fit in my remaining schedule like music appreciation, art history, ancient history, Shakespeare and a few others. I wish I had taken more courses like that throughout my college days. The courses I did take made me better and more rounded. I encourage all students in technical fields to take liberal arts courses. That is what college is about.